Trading Heartbeats
by ohsugarbeth
Summary: Caitlyn wins a meet and greet competition with Connect 3, but what happens between her and Nate?


Caitlyn couldn't believe it! She had actually won a competition. For once in her life it seemed like. Best of all, it was the prize that would make her life complete as of the moment. She was shivering with pure excitement as she toyed with the shiny laminated VIP card hanging around her neck. Walking along the corridor with the 4 other competition winners – to where she assumed to be backstage – the butterflies that were currently residing in Caitlyn's stomach seemed to kick into overdrive. In just a few short minutes she would be meeting the rock idols she had plastered all over her walls – Connect 3. Looking around at the other girls, she noticed looks of nervousness and excitement on their faces that mirrored her own feelings.

The event manager that was leading them down the corridor stopped suddenly and opened a door to her left. Inside, Caitlyn could see a room with 3 chairs on the left facing 5 chairs on the right. Caitlyn's butterflies started their dance again as they were ushered into the room. Taking the chair right in the middle, Caitlyn sat down and tried some breathing techniques so she could stop hyperventilating before the boys got there. The last thing she wanted was for them to come in and her faint.

"_That would just be embarrassing,"_ she grimaced to herself.

While they were waiting, she noticed the other girls reapplying their makeup and pouting their now red lips in their mirrors. Caitlyn laughed to herself at the girl who looked like she'd applied foundation with a trowel. She was glad that she had gone with a natural look that just enhanced her features under the bright lights in the room. Hopefully she would stand out to the boys. Well, more specifically, one boy. Nate was her all time favourite star ever. He was ever so talented, funny and drop dead gorgeous.

Nervously playing with her hair, she gasped as a door in the corner of the room opened a crack. Her gasp caused the other girls to stop looking at themselves and look up at the door. Caitlyn could feel the excitement in the air. In just a few moments she would be in the middle of her dream world, though thankfully this was real life. The door opened some more and talking and laughing was heard from behind it.

Suddenly the door swung open to reveal Jason smiling confidently towards the girls. Caitlyn timidly smiled back as his eyes travelled over each of the girls in turn. He strode across the room towards them and extended his hand to the first girl.

After hugs and kisses for the first two girls, he sidestepped his way up the line directly in from of Caitlyn.

"Hi there, congratulations on winning and it's lovely to meet you," Jason smiled warmly at her. It didn't matter that this was not her favourite member, she was excited beyond belief.

"Thank you, I'm Caitlyn," she smiled shyly as he dipped his head and kissed her hand.

"You're welcome, Caitlyn," he smiled again before moving to the next girl beside her. As Jason was exchanging greetings with the other two girls, Caitlyn took the opportunity to calm herself before the next boy came in. How she hoped it would be Nate next, at least that way a majority of her anxiety nerves would go away. As Jason was talking to the girl on the end of the line, Caitlyn saw shadows moving in the hallway behind the door.

Before she had a chance to cross her fingers and hope for Nate, Shane was striding confidently across the room, a gigantic smile plastered across his face.

"Ladies!" he drawled, his arms wide open, "how are we all doing today?"

"Good," the girls chorused, anxiously waiting for Shane to come over. He stopped in front of the girls, arms still wide open, but now a pout fixed on his lips.

"What? No group hug?"

The girls grinned at each other and ran towards him, squealing. Caitlyn managed to snag the spot under his right arm and nestled herself comfortably into his side as he clutched everyone close. After disbanding from the hug, everyone assumed their former positions and Shane went about introducing himself individually to everyone.

"_Such a ladies man,"_ Caitlyn giggled to herself.

"And who do we have here?" Shane smiled at Caitlyn when he got up to her.

"Caitlyn," she grinned back, extending her hand to shake his.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," Shane smirked, grabbing her hand. But instead of shaking it, he pulled her in for a hug, "and pretty girls get hugs," he whispered in her ear. Caitlyn tried to control the blood flow to her cheeks, but it was no use. She was blushing embarrassingly hard. Although, it was harder _not_ to blush around Shane.

"Alright, Romeo," Jason cleared his throat, smirking at Shane. Shane smiled sheepishly and greeted the next girl in line.

Caitlyn quickly smoothed down her shirt and fixed her hair as best she could without a mirror. She knew who was arriving next and it made her heart splutter in her chest. She had been waiting so long for this opportunity and the excitement that was steadily building was nothing like she'd ever experienced before. Caitlyn hoped this feeling was just nerves and not a pending heart attack. Her heart was spluttering so hard it was hard to tell. Then, the light threw shadows onto the wall that signified someone about to come through the door.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion; from the moment Nate stepped through the door, Caitlyn was captivated. Her eyes travelled down from his chocolate brown curly hair to his big brown eyes. Her eyes then travelled lower and rested on his plump pink lips that were forming a smile that lit up his face. He was more glorious in real life than she ever could have hoped for. The moment was most definitely worth waiting all that time for. The suspense paid off.

Caitlyn had been starting at him longer than she thought because Nate stepped up the line, directly in front of her.

"Hi," she muttered nervously before Nate even had a chance to say anything. He chuckled. His eyes smiled warmly at her as she took some deep breaths.

"I'm …uh …I'm Nate," he paused throughout his introduction as if he'd forgotten his own name. His eyes had not broken contact with Caitlyn's since he introduced himself.

"I'm Caitlyn," she whispered breathlessly back. He paused for a moment, his smile lighting up his entire face. The blush that was slowly creeping across his cheeks was fighting for space with the smile that Caitlyn loved so much. It seemed as though Nate was just as stuck for words as she was.

"Lovely to meet you," he leaned in to hug her. Her heart spluttered uncontrollably as she leaned into him. And suddenly, she was content. With Nate's arms wrapped around her, she sighed into his neck. He gave her one final squeeze and pulled back – his face just as red as hers. He smiled shyly again and reluctantly moved onto the next girl.

Shane and Jason watched their younger brother with interested eyes. He had never got all flustered like that when he met fans. He usually was cool with everything, taking photos with people and handing out autographs, hugs and smiles accordingly. But never had they seen him blush and stutter. They looked at each other with identical grins. This was definitely not going to fly under their radar.

The meet and greet that the girls had won was an opportunity to meet the boys, take some photos, get their records signed, ask them questions, and watch them do their sound check for the show later on. All throughout the proceedings, Caitlyn noticed that Nate's eyes never seemed to stray far from her. While the other girls were asking their questions, Caitlyn glanced at Nate every so often to find him doing the same. Anytime they caught each others eye, they would quickly look away blushing. Caitlyn realised this could be a good indication of great things to come.

Sooner than she'd hoped, the meet and greet came to an end. Caitlyn really didn't want to say goodbye to the guys. The afternoon had just been filled with joking and laughing before the boys had decided to treat them with an entirely acoustic version of Lovebug. She couldn't help but catch Nate's eye as he strummed his guitar, providing the perfect tune for Shane to sing along to. At one point during the song she'd caught his eye and had been unable to look away. His brown eyes stared intently into her own until she got shivers. Nate induced shivers. The best kind.

Jason had come around first for goodbye hugs, his hug for Caitlyn enveloping her in friendship and warmth. Shane was next, he grinned at her as he pulled her into a bone crushing hug. He whispered something into her ear that she missed because she couldn't hear anything over the pounding of her own heart. She smiled and nodded at Shane who looked like he was expecting an answer for whatever he just asked. He looked pleased with her response and gave her a hand a quick squeeze before moving on.

Nate sidestepped into Caitlyn's view, his eyes bright with excitement. Before she could say anything he picked her up off the ground so her legs were dangling in mid-air. He clutched her tight as she laughed at his actions. Caitlyn's head was now level with his. She looked into his eyes, which were raging with conflict. Before she had time to wonder what he was conflicted about, his head swooped into hers and pecked her swiftly on her cheek. He pulled back to gauge the reaction on Caitlyn's face which was currently set to 'stunned'.

"You're so cute," he remarked as he squeezed her again and put her down.

Caitlyn blushed but kept her composure. The rational and sane part of her kept control over the part that just told her to scream and dance.

"So are you," she mumbled back. He grinned at her again before sadly moving onto the next girl. The individual hugs had been had, but it seemed Shane was up for one more group hug. He held his arms open again just like last time. Caitlyn walked towards Shane for the hug, but before she could stand beside him, he moved away to the other side of the circle. Trying not to let the hurt show on her face, she grabbed the two girls beside her to join in.

Caitlyn felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Nate standing there.

"Do you ladies mind if I join in here?" he asked, flashing a thousand-watt smile at Caitlyn and the other girl. Mostly at Caitlyn though. Caitlyn smiled and nodded as the girls unlinked arms to make from for Nate. She positioned herself comfortably under Nate's arm and grinned. No longer feeling upset about Shane snubbing her, she looked over at him only for him to wink back at her. She had a sneaking suspicion that this was their plan all along.

All too soon the hug came to an end. The boys really had to get going. It was sound-check time. They waved goodbye and filed out through the Same door that they had entered through. Before Nate left, he gave the security guard a small square of paper and whispered him some very specific instructions. Caitlyn was too busy gossiping to the other girls about everything that had just happened that she didn't notice the security guard approach her.

"Miss, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure," Caitlyn replied, bewildered. She wondered what he could possibly want with her. She hadn't done anything wrong.

"I've been given explicit instructions to pass this along to you," he said kindly after they were away from the rest of the girls who had now been ushered out of the room to watch the sound-check. He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you," Caitlyn smiled, shoving it into her pocket.

"I'll just take you to where all the rest of the girls have gone so you don't get lost," he said as he walked out of the room with her. Caitlyn decided she'd rather read whatever was on the paper now before she got back to the rest of them. Fishing into her pocket, she pinched the card between her fingers and brought it up so she could read it.

"_You're cute (: Nate xx"_

The message was followed by a cell phone number. Her heart skipped a beat when she realised what she had in her hands. Nate's cell phone number had been given to her by the man himself. Her lucky stars were really looking out for her today. She sighed and smiled pulling the paper close to her chest.

**PRESENT DAY**

Caitlyn was waiting side of stage to see her best friends play in front of thousands of screaming girls. Thinking back to that fateful day they first met, she was so glad she had gotten over her nerves and called him. Now, she was very happy to say that her best friends were none other than Jason, Shane and Nate. She went everywhere with them – always joining them on tour to different countries and meeting different people. It was a great opportunity.

At first there had been jealousy from the other fans, but a year on they had just learned to accept her. Sometimes people even asked for her autograph and the boys thought that was hilarious. It was embarrassing but flattering at the Same time.

Looking out at the stage she smiled as she spotted Jason throwing her a quick thumbs up. He and Shane never failed to make her laugh. They were like the big brothers she never had. They were fiercely protective of her and loved her like a sister as she loved them like brothers. Her and Nate had always remained close. The best of friends.

It was near the end of their set for the night and Caitlyn had enjoyed this show just as much as every other one she'd ever seen. She never got bored of them. They were just so amazing to watch.

"How is everyone tonight?" Shane screamed, effectively pumping up the crowd. Thousands of girls screamed back. Caitlyn laughed to herself as she remembered the days that that would have been her in the crowd.

"I know you all know this next song and since this is the last night of the tour, Nate wants to say something special to introduce it," Shane announced throwing a wink Nate's way.

Caitlyn perked up at this information; they usually did the Same show every night. This was news to her. She shot a questioning look at Nate who had looked over and he returned her look with an embarrassed smile and a blush. She smiled back and cocked her head to one side, intrigued as to where this was going.

"This song tonight goes out to a special person in my life," he smiled looking at his guitar. The opening chords of 'Just Friends' started up and the crowd went wild.

_There she goes again  
The girl I'm in love with  
It's cool, we're just friends  
We walk the halls of school  
But I know, I know it's casual  
It's cool we're just,  
I don't wanna lead you on  
But the truth is, I've grown fond_

Caitlyn watched Nate as he sung this. His eyes flickering ever so slightly towards her. Her heart stopped in her chest. She'd loved Nate for so long, but didn't want to act on anything because she was scared of ruining the friendship. Was this Nate telling her how he felt?

_Everyone knows it's meant to be  
Falling in love just you and me_

His eyes had now locked onto hers. Caitlyn couldn't believe this was happening. She was so sure that Nate didn't feel the Same way about her as she did about him. Apparently she was wrong. She didn't mind one bit that she was wrong. The smile that took over her face as she watched her best friend – the boy that she was in love with – sing those words to her was so big her eyes were squinting to accommodate it all.

The rest of the show went by as a blur after that song. She didn't remember any of the songs they played after. As the boys ran of stage, she was desperate to talk to Nate, but knew she was going to be shy about it.

Jason and Shane hopped past her, both capturing her in a hug before running along for some water.

"Wow," she mouthed as Nate came off stage and stood in front of her.

He scratched the back of his head, "Surprise," he smiled.

Caitlyn didn't know what to say. She stood there, her cheeks heating up. Should she tell him how she felt, or wait for him to say something?

"Caitlyn, what I sung, I meant it," he looked into her eyes.

"I …don't know what to say," she whispered back, her eyes shining with tears of happiness.

She didn't have to say anything. Nate lowered his head and caught her lips in their first real kiss. Caitlyn's hands were pressed lightly against his chest while his had snaked their way around her waist to pull her close. The kiss was amazing and neither of them wanted it to end. Unfortunately, the need for oxygen got too great and they broke apart. Nate's arms were still wound around her waist and hers were still resting on his chest.

"I think I love you," he grinned a crooked smile.

Caitlyn laughed. "I think I love you too," she smiled back.

The joy in his eyes was spilling over. His mouth curved up in a smile and dipped down to meet hers again. As far as they were both concerned, this was her favourite show ever.


End file.
